Moncton Gutsy Walk aims to raise awareness, money and a sense of community
Dressed in red and gathered together as a community, everyone at Moncton’s annual “Gutsy Walk” had been touched by Crohn’s and Colitis in some way.
“[The] IWK practically saved my life in January, told me I had Crohn’s and how to treat it,” said 14-year-old Zoe Allian, who explained that she started getting really sick shortly after her 14th birthday.
“It’s been better, but it was a long process, to be honest,” she said.
While officials call it an invisible disease, it impacts a lot of people in a lot of different ways.
“In Atlantic Canada, we’re seeing about one person in 100 people, which is the highest rate among the world,” said Véronique Gaudet, Moncton Gutsy Walk local honorary chair.
“Crohn’s and Colitis are two different types of bowel disease, so it’s basically inflammation. People can get lots of pain, and some people have severe disease that can lead to disability or needing surgeries or colostomy bags and things like that, and so it’s a pretty severe illness in terms of quality of life.”
On Sunday, people across Canada walked to raise money for research and patient support programs. Money raised across the country gets added together and put towards resources that will benefit everyone living with the disease.
“There’s only so many treatment options available and one thing that a lot of people don’t know is once you fail a treatment, you can’t ever go back to that treatment,” said Crohn’s and Colitis Canada Moncton Chapter president Mandi Lawson.
“There’s only so many medications that are approved and we need more. We need more treatment options so that people can be feeling well because eventually you get through all of them and you’re at the end of your rope.”
While Monctonians walked alongside other Canadians on Sunday, the local event was also used to find strength in each other.
“My son has Crohn’s disease. He’s 15 now but when he was first diagnosed, he actually had a feeding tube,” said Lawson.
“All of the nurses and all of the doctors in the world could tell me how to put a feeding tube in, how to clean a feeding tube, but no one could tell me how to live with a feeding tube – only another mom, who had been on this journey and knew how to deal with it at school, how to deal with it in the middle of the night, how to deal with the bathroom trips… so you need other people who have been on this journey because they understand what it’s like to live in a way that medical professionals don’t.”
The event saw people walk together and share personal stories of strength and inspiration.
“I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at 13-years-old and I think through my journey of the diagnosis and going through the illness I developed a lot of resilience and wanting to push for helping people and that’s why I applied to med school and I just recently graduated,” said Gaudet.
She says she plans to stay in Atlantic Canada and is going into internal medicine.
While only 20 team leaders registered, around 75 people showed up in support and solidarity on Sunday.
“I found a lot of inspiration in the community and in talking to people and to sharing my story as well, so I find it important to be able to host an event like this and to be a voice for the community as well,” said Gaudet.
The goal in Moncton was to raise $18,000 and to build a community around people living with Crohn’s and Colitis.
“I think it’s great for the people here to meet other people and make new friends that have the same thing as them,” said Allain.
“We’re not different than other people. I mean, everyone is different in their way and this is not a reason to single us out.”
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
NEW 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire': A crowd pleaser that turns it up to 11
Hot on the heels of last year's 'Godzilla Minus One' comes 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,' the first ever Academy Award winner in the giant reptile's decades-long film career.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.